A recent study from MIT shows students tasked with writing essays showed significantly lower levels of brain activity when allowed to use ChatGPT. Mark Pesce reviews the implications of this finding with RNZ NineToNoon host Kathryn Ryan, going on to reveal how an internet filled with AI-generated content becomes increasingly 'toxic' for those same AIs. Plus, would you agree to be 're-animated' as an 'AI ghost'? In conversation with host Kathryn Ryan, we explored the recently emerging phenomenon ...
Jul 01, 2025•18 min
RNZ NINE TO NOON: CAN CHATGPT MAKE YOU CRAZY? In conversation with host Kathryn Ryan, Mark highlights a number of reports indicating potentially very serious mental health issues associated with the use of chatbots like ChatGPT. These chatbots tend to be very agreeable - a quality known as 'sycophancy'. But being agreeable with someone's delusions only tends to reinforce them, potentially amplifying any underlying mental health issues. Should this mean chatbots are off-limits for people in menta...
Jun 02, 2025•20 min
From Radio New Zealand's Nine To Noon: Meta - the parent of Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp, and much more besides - finds itself fighting for its life against a suit from the US Federal Trade Commission, charging abuse of monopoly power - because they acquired Instagram and WhatsApp in order to neutralise up-and-coming competitors. Even in Trump's America, that could result in the break-up of the trillion-dollar social media giant. Plus, are you up for a Day of Unplugging? No devices, no screens,...
Apr 17, 2025•15 min
Originally broadcast on 20th March, 2025 on Radio New Zealand's Nine To Noon with host Kathryn Ryan. Christie's held its first auction of AI-generated art, earning a million dollars. Those AI artworks had been 'trained' from countless images, owned by other people. Is that legal? OpenAI and Google claim that unless they have free right to use - well, basically everything everywhere ever created by humanity - to train their AI models, the Chinese will win the AI race. Meanwhile, Hollywood's A-lis...
Mar 20, 2025•13 min
Originally broadcast on Radio New Zealand's Nine to Noon on 13 February 2025 Last week Google amended its ethical AI policies to allow their AI tools to be used in weapons - to preserve 'national security'. They're among the last to embrace a new market for their products - defense and weapons. Is this a new thing? Or is tech simply returning to its roots as a service industry for the military-industrial complex? Is this why the US and UK refused to sign an international AI declaration this week...
Feb 13, 2025•19 min
"How did you go bankrupt?" begins the oft-quoted line from Hemingway. "Two ways. Gradually - then suddenly." That's how the automotive sector feels at the end of 2024, with Nissan maybe preparing for bankruptcy and Stellantis firing its CEO and VW struggling with strikes and low sales and GM shuttering Cruise and on and on and on. Sally Dominguez and Drew Smith join Mark Pesce in studio to explore what's really happening - and what it all means for THE NEXT BILLION CARS. The Next Billion Cars wi...
Dec 16, 2024•35 min
In 2018, Nick Hazell founded v2food - an amazing startup making plant-based substitutes for meat that got extensive coverage on THE NEXT BILLION SECONDS. Six years later, it's getting difficult to find their product on supermarket shelves - and there's been a broader roll-back from plant-based alternatives. What's happened? Nick Hazel doesn't have all the answers - but he asks some of the right questions... See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information....
Dec 10, 2024•16 min
The impacts of global heating have become persistent and profound, so we need to do as much as we can to lesson those impacts, as quickly as we can. The best paths forward lean into existing, natural processes - and this is exactly where Nick Hazell has arrived with Algenie. Can algae restore balance to our ecosystem? Is it the moonshot we need to transform our future? See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Dec 02, 2024•37 min
In this final year in review episode, Sally Dominguez, Drew Smith and Mark Pesce address the big, smelly elephant in the room: The change of government - and direction - over in the United States of America. Could massive tariffs plus 'drill, baby, drill' together land a knockout punch on the US EV industry? Plus - predictions for 2025. We're bringing the year to a thrilling close on this episode of THE NEXT BILLION CARS. Sign up for 'The Practical Futurist' newsletter here Hosted by award-winni...
Nov 27, 2024•18 min
Whenever Mark, Sal and Drew get together, sparks will fly. So much has happened since our visit to CES 2024, we reckoned it time to draw all the year's threads together: Are we pulling back from EVs? Will China dominate manufacturing? And what about all that data vehicles are collecting? It's been full on - enough to require a bit of a 'group hug'. Part one of two. Sign up for 'The Practical Futurist' newsletter here Hosted by award-winning podcast creator, journalist & futurist Mark Pesce, ...
Nov 25, 2024•22 min
The $100,000,000,000 Lie — “In 2016, Tesla CEO Elon Musk instructed his team of engineers to 'hard code' the first demo of what would become 'Full Self Driving'. A faked video drove panic across the entire automotive sector, leading to massive (and mostly failed) investments in technologies for autonomy.” See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Nov 20, 2024•8 min
The Next Billion Cars co-host Drew Smith... has something to say. Sign up for 'The Practical Futurist' newsletter here Hosted by Drew Smith, Sally Dominguez and futurist Mark Pesce, The Next Billion Cars is everything you need to know about the future of Cars. For more information about this podcast and The Next Billion Seconds, please visit https://nextbillionseconds.com. The Next Billion Seconds with Mark Pesce is produced by Ampel - https://ampel.com.au . See omnystudio.com/listener for priva...
Nov 18, 2024•12 min
The Next Billion Cars co-host Sally Dominguez examines at the data hungry nature of modern vehicles. What does privacy look like in the age of 'artificial intimacy'? You have nothing to hide, right? Sign up for 'The Practical Futurist' newsletter here Hosted by Drew Smith, Sally Dominguez and futurist Mark Pesce, The Next Billion Cars is everything you need to know about the future of Cars. For more information about this podcast and The Next Billion Seconds, please visit https://nextbillionseco...
Nov 11, 2024•8 min
Sign up for 'The Practical Futurist' newsletter here Hosted by award-winning podcast creator, journalist & futurist Mark Pesce, The Next Billion Seconds is everything you need to know about the future — so you can make the best decisions today. The rate of change we are experiencing is the fastest humanity has ever seen. Stay informed as Mark simplifies the complex technological and societal changes we face. How we will work, connect, use money, drive, eat is all changing at a rapid pace. Fo...
Nov 05, 2024•22 min
A special episode of The Next Billion Cars with Drew Smith and Mark Pesce - car brand ZEEKR: HOW DOES A NEW BRAND SURVIVE? With Gustaf Gunér - head of brand, Zeekr Design. Sign up for 'The Practical Futurist' newsletter here. In this series of THE NEXT BILLION SECONDS we'll explore the enormous changes that are taking place right now - almost everywhere we look. Because things are moving fast.The future has suddenly become the present. Hosted by award-winning podcast creator, journalist & fu...
Nov 03, 2024•29 min
Sign up for 'The Practical Futurist' newsletter here. In this series of THE NEXT BILLION SECONDS we'll explore the enormous changes that are taking place right now - almost everywhere we look. Because things are moving fast.The future has suddenly become the present. Hosted by award-winning podcast creator, journalist & futurist Mark Pesce, The Next Billion Seconds is everything you need to know about the future — so you can make the best decisions today. The rate of change we are experienci...
Oct 29, 2024•11 min
Live at SXSW: A Fine Line between technology and anthropology with Elizabeth Bramson-Boudreau, CEO and Publisher of MIT Technology Review Ever since the release of ChatGPT it's changed how we think about what we can do.That revelation continues unrolling across a vast front...Students getting ChatGPT to write their essays... Teachers writing prompts, constructing densely detailed historical worlds for those same students to explore...Researchers creating 'Storyville' - a community of twenty-five...
Oct 29, 2024•53 min
On this episode, we stare into the abyss of one of our deepest fears - that AI has suddenly made us all obsolete. Or has it? Sign up for 'The Practical Futurist' newsletter here. In this series of THE NEXT BILLION SECONDS we'll explore the enormous changes that are taking place right now - almost everywhere we look. Because things are moving fast.The future has suddenly become the present. Hosted by award-winning podcast creator, journalist & futurist Mark Pesce, The Next Billion Seconds is ...
Oct 17, 2024•12 min
On this episode, we look at what's happened to one of the most important areas of the economy - the semiconductor industry. The very few firms who make the chips that power our civilisation - TSMC, Apple, AMD and Nvidia... There's been a massive shift. And now, sadly, a massive natural disaster. They're related. We'll explore why, on episode of THE NEXT BILLION SECONDS. Sign up for 'The Practical Futurist' newsletter here. We've tacitly adopted the four-day week from two directions... The Future...
Oct 17, 2024•12 min
Sign up for 'The Practical Futurist' newsletter here. We've tacitly adopted the four-day week from two directions... The Future has arrived... The last two years have seen more change and the previous 20. Are we ready for that? In this series of THE NEXT BILLION SECONDS we'll explore the enormous changes that are taking place right now - almost everywhere we look. Because things are moving fast.The future has suddenly become the present. Hosted by award-winning podcast creator, journalist & ...
Oct 17, 2024•13 min
Sign up for 'The Practical Futurist' newsletter here The Future has arrived... The last two years have seen more change and the previous 20. Are we ready for that? In this series of THE NEXT BILLION SECONDS we'll explore the enormous changes that are taking place right now - almost everywhere we look. Because things are moving fast.The future has suddenly become the present. Hosted by award-winning podcast creator, journalist & futurist Mark Pesce, The Next Billion Seconds is everything you ...
Oct 13, 2024•8 min
Science fiction legend Vernor Vinge inspired the title of this podcast - and his influence extends far beyond fiction. His novella "True Names" gave readers a first taste of the metaverse, and in a 1993 talk for NASA, Vinge described a 'technological singularity' - a time when computers get so good so fast that they 'run away' from human control. It's a scenario that haunts every big company working in AI today, possibly an element in the behind-the-scenes dynamic that got Sam Altman (briefly) f...
Mar 22, 2024•44 min
Mark started working with cryptocurrencies back in 2014. Ten years at the coalface has convinced him that - despite incredible promise - cryptocurrencies are pwned by gamblers and grifters. After a decade advising financial institutions, regulators and cryptocurrency entrepreneurs, Mark explains why he's chosen to leave it all behind - and might never mention cryptocurrencies publicly again. For more information about this podcast and The Next Billion Seconds, please visit https://nextbillionsec...
Feb 01, 2024•27 min•Season 3Ep. 1
Despite some new car announcements from Honda, this year's Consumer Electronics Show reveals a stagnant automotive sector that seems to have lost its way in the transition to EVs. Co-host Sally Dominguez, Special Correspondent Drew Smith and Mark Pesce find a few bones to pick with the future on offer in Las Vegas - but a surprise from Sharp left the team smelling roses. It's Las Vegas, baby - with the pedal to the metal, and one foot in the future. For more information about this podcast and Th...
Jan 11, 2024•22 min•Season 7Ep. 32
The Consumer Electronics Show is one of the biggest conventions in the world, featuring gadgets of every size and description. It’s also the most important car show in the world. Cohost Sally Dominguez, special correspondent Drew Smith and host Mark Pesce share some of their highs and lows of this year’s show. For more information about this podcast and The Next Billion Seconds, please visit https://nextbillionseconds.com. The Next Billion Seconds with Mark Pesce is produced by Ampel - https://a...
Jan 10, 2024•18 min•Season 7Ep. 31
The year of 'brolectrification', artificial intelligence working its way into car dashboards, a Chinese EV invasion - and Cybertruck's domination. At the end of 2023, what have we learned? Co-host Sally Dominguez and Special Correspondent Drew Smith sit down with Mark Pesce to augur the entrails of a very weird year, then look forward to the 2024 Consumer Electronics Show. On this final episode of a three-part miniseries, we explore how ChatGPT rose to become the fastest growing app in history, ...
Dec 19, 2023•32 min•Season 7Ep. 30
RESHARE! Thanks to Paddy Dhanda for having Mark Pesce on his Podcast Superpowers school - we're happy to be sharing here! 🎧 Follow Superpowers School Podcast on: 👉 Apple 👉 Spotify 👉 YouTube 👉 Newsletter In this exclusive interview, Mark Pesce shares his journey of writing his new book published by the BCS, " Getting Started with ChatGPT and AI Chatbots ." He was inspired by the realisation that billions of Windows users would soon need guidance on how to use powerful AI tools following Micr...
Dec 15, 2023•46 min
Autonomous agents - computer programs that can think and act for themselves - have been an impossible dream for almost forty years. Suddenly, they're easy to create - and being weaponised as agents of mass disinformation. In this final of our three-part miniseries on AI, we look at the power - and peril - of autonomous agents, a technology that will play a huge role in our NEXT BILLION SECONDS. On this final episode of a three-part miniseries, we explore how ChatGPT rose to become the fastest gr...
Dec 12, 2023•24 min•Season 7Ep. 8
While everyone was going gaga over ChatGPT, Meta - the former Facebook - rewrote the AI playbook with LLaMA. Small enough to run on a smartphone, LLaMA gives us a glimpse of what the world will look like at the end of next year - with AI chatbots everywhere, inside almost everything. LLaMA and its tiny kin are amazing - but are they safe? On this second episode of a three-part miniseries, we explore how ChatGPT rose to become the fastest growing app in history, then found itself the weapon of ch...
Dec 05, 2023•18 min•Season 7Ep. 7
On 30 November 2022 startup OpenAI released ChatGPT, resetting expectations for artificial intelligence. Only one year later and billions now have access to ‘good enough’ AI, resetting our expectations for what computers can do - and leaving us wondering how we’ll adapt to this latest breakthrough. On this first of a three-part miniseries, we explore how ChatGPT rose to become the fastest growing app in history, then found itself the weapon of choice in the longest running war in the technology ...
Nov 28, 2023•17 min•Season 7Ep. 6
